The Fall 2025 Student Assembly Elections are underway, with 16 first-year students campaigning for four seats representing the Class of 2029 and four transfer students vying for a singular seat representing the Class of 2028’s transfer population.
Below is an overview of each candidate’s platform. Voting began Monday, Nov. 3, and will end Monday, Nov. 10, at 10:00 a.m. Students can vote by accessing a link to their email address.
Freshman Representative Candidates
Ade Akisanya ’29:
Akisanya is campaigning for dorm equity and systems upgrades. In an email statement to The Sun, he wrote that “Cornell’s dorm facilities, whether old or new, should be standardized to ensure every student has the same level of comfort and accessibility,” noting outdated laundry machines and lack of reliable water stations.
Akisanya attended an international boarding school, where he spent four years as a student intermediary, preparing him for this Student Assembly position. “Those experiences taught me how to bridge differences, communicate clearly, and create spaces where everyone feels heard,” he wrote in the statement.
Jad Alsouss ’29:
Alsouss emphasizes delivering student-driven results on everyday campus issues. “I’m running for Student Assembly to turn your student input into real action,” he wrote in his candidate bio.
He points to dining hall congestion and library hours as examples of priorities set by students that require action to fix. “I’ll focus on easing your schedule and enhancing your time here in ways that actually matter,” he wrote.
Jai Anand ’29:
Anand pointed out inconsistent bathroom cleaning schedules across dorms in an email statement to The Sun. He aims to “push for a fairer and more consistent system across North Campus” that adjusts to account for differences in usage patterns and students assigned per bathroom.
Emphasizing delivery on his promises, Anand noted experience raising funds for dorm events as vice president of the Low Rise community and serving on the Student Assembly’s Communications Committee. “I don’t shy away from being honest or standing up for what’s right,” he wrote in the statement.
Solomon Blecher ’29:
Blecher highlighted the inefficiencies and inequities of the students’ $15 cap on free printing. He hopes to advocate for “unlimited free printing” for students, arguing that “students should not be charged if they choose to take a class that requires significant amounts of printing.”
“I also really care about justice and equality and helping everyone get what they need,” Blecher wrote, emphasizing experience engaging Ithaca residents at local government meetings. He added that he would welcome feedback from students and Ithaca residents alike if elected to the Student Assembly.
Myshay Causey ’29:
Mental health and first-year adjustment are at the top of Causey’s agenda. In an email statement to The Sun, she noted that “there is a clear struggle for freshmen to handle the new environment while keeping healthy habits,” including sleeping enough and eating properly. She plans to alleviate first-years’ stress by reducing fees and creating more social events on campus.
Causey cited experience representing “thousands of students” in Los Angeles during high school as preparation for the Student Assembly role. “I’m sure not to stray away from representing all 3,874 of you,” she wrote, addressing Cornell’s first-year class.
Charlie Clark ’29:
Clark frames his run around service-based leadership rather than personal ambition. “I have always believed in simplistic leadership,” he wrote in his candidate bio, adding that his goal is to eliminate avoidable student frustrations.
Clark aims to help students fully enjoy campus. “If this University should be a place where any person can find instruction in any study,” he wrote, “then any person must first be able to find a sense of pride in calling this University their home.”
Arman Fard ’29:
Fard discussed his goals to “improve water quality and accessibility across campus” in an email statement to The Sun. He notes that “red filter statuses” on many water fountains have forced students to fill up their bottles at dining halls, which is against policy and creates long lines.
“Feasibility is a top consideration” for Fard. He argued that his platform is unique for its focus on “results that can actually get done” and in-person engagement, which would “establish clear communication lines” that “inherently support transparency and accountability.”
Jack Gewanter ’29:
Gewanter’s campaign focuses on supporting student entrepreneurship. “There are plenty of students who are entrepreneurially-minded, but there is little support in place for these students,” he wrote in his candidate bio.
“My goal is for students to have a framework to aid them in their entrepreneurial ventures,” he wrote. Gewanter proposes a University-backed online hub where students can list businesses, services and reviews.
Amelia Lyons ’29:
Lyons identifies package pickup delays at RPCC as a key problem, noting long lines and limited staff capacity. In an email statement to The Sun, she proposed “an online reservation system” as a low-cost short-term solution and an expansion of the number of service centers to improve delivery flow.
Emphasizing the political nature of the Student Assembly, Lyons wrote that “there are important student organizations on the verge of losing crucial funding and students whose freedom of speech has been repressed by the University Administration.” She argues her campaign can help raise awareness for these issues and others.
Tanay Naik ’29:
Naik’s focus is on the first-year social experience. In an email statement to The Sun, he noted that “CampusGroups is just too tedious to individually sift through,” and proposed a singular list of all events open to first-years from “networking events to socials/parties.”
In an effort to improve the Northstar Dining Room in Appel Hall, Naik aims to bring over some items from Morrison Dining, including a waffle-maker, as detailed in his candidate bio. He hopes to improve first-years’ understanding of the Student Assembly through weekly outreach on Instagram Reels.
Zain Patel ’29:
Patel’s plans focus on community-building for the first-year class. “One of my favorite parts about being at Cornell so far has been meeting people all over the world,” he wrote in his candidate bio. He says his priorities include strengthening communication between students and leadership and improving wellness resources.
Aiming to connect students across disciplines, Patel seeks to encourage cross-college events that bring students from various backgrounds together.
Ellie Porter ’29:
Fee transparency is a priority for Porter. “Students shouldn’t be paying a flat rate for housing or CAMP only to find out essentials like laundry and printing aren’t included,” she wrote in an email statement to The Sun. Her proposal includes collaboration across Cornell to make printing free and a reallocation of dorm funds towards free laundry loads for each student.
Porter’s focus is on “bringing new ideas” to the forefront of discussion. After “reading about past elections and attending Assembly meetings,” she believes she is uniquely prepared to contribute to the Student Assembly.
Chloe Retuya ’29:
Retuya’s campaign is motivated by accessibility and overall student well-being. “I will serve as a reliable bridge between freshmen and the Student Assembly,” she wrote in her candidate bio, citing experience founding a mental health nonprofit with over 1,500 volunteers.
She wrote that she hopes to prioritize disability access, housing and clear information around mental health resources to “create an environment where each student feels uplifted, supported, and truly heard.”
Jennell Rosales ’29:
Rosales identifies laundry as a “basic necessity, not a luxury” and calls for free access for students. She proposes collaborating with Student and Campus Life to phase-in cost-effective changes to student laundry systems in ways that are “feasible and equitable.”
Rosales addressed the first-year class with empathy, writing, “your problems are my problems” in an email statement to The Sun. If elected, she plans to encourage transparency through “open forums and other coffee chats” with her peers. “I want every student to feel heard and included in the decision-making process,” she wrote.
Aari Roy ’29:
Roy stresses affordability and access to resources, including subsidized laundry and free TCAT service for upper-class students. “I care about making sure every student feels supported, heard, and included,” she wrote in her candidate bio.
As outlined in her bio, Roy aims to improve the student experience when it comes to dining halls, housing selection and the availability of mental health resources.
Liam Tian ’29:
Tian’s campaign highlights affordability and aims to expand BRB usability to “printing fees, laundry, and campus-to-campus buses to NYC,” he wrote in an email statement to The Sun. He argues these changes benefit students without any cost, “as BRBs are already paid for in the budget.”
Tian touts past whistleblowing experience, having exposed misuse of school funds at his high school, which led to an audit and policy reform, as “setting him apart from the other candidates.” If elected, he plans to increase engagement with the Student Assembly through Instagram outreach.
Transfer Representative Candidates
Yi Huang ’28:
Huang focuses on pre-arrival support for transfers, noting reliance on online forums for information. “Cornell can fix this by creating a community that assists the transfer process” that connects students and provides a platform for Q&A, she wrote in an email statement to The Sun.
In response to the lack of support, Huang “made an Instagram group chat with over 200 transfers before orientation started,” which connected incoming students with others in the same boat and allowed them to learn from each other about various opportunities on campus.
Akshara Keshri ’28:
Disability support is a focus for Keshri. In an email statement to The Sun, she noted that accommodations can require “patience and persistence” that place a burden on affected students. She proposes a student-staff accessibility review board to “track progress, celebrate successes, and identify where support can grow stronger.”
Keshri noted ideas for programs she hopes to launch, such as a Transfer Table and Transfer Week, that tackle “transfer-specific challenges that often go unnoticed.” She aims to engage with peers through social media, writing that “transparency should feel like a two way conversation, not a report.”
Jan Parker ’28:
Parker’s platform prioritizes housing fairness, citing that transfers were unable to select rooms and faced insufficient facilities. “Four washers [are] not enough for a residence hall with 100+ people,” Parker wrote in an email statement to The Sun. He calls for advance information on rooms and building amenities, along with maintenance improvements to living spaces.
Before transferring, Parker “led an initiative to get first aid kits placed on every floor of resident halls” at Case Western Reserve University. Open communication is essential for Parker. “If you send me an email with a question, I’ll respond,” he wrote.
Zachary Yabut ’28:
Yabut’s platform focuses on improving package processing and delivery systems on campus. He proposed introducing “scheduled pick-up windows and fast lanes” within an online system to alleviate congestion in an email statement to The Sun.
Yabut cited broad civic experience, including serving on a school board and founding a nonprofit food pantry, as preparation for contributing to Cornell’s Student Assembly. “I’m not afraid to express the opinions of my peers,” he wrote. He plans to use social media to keep students engaged with meetings and encourage casual communication.
Anant Srinivasan is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a staff writer for the News department and can be reached at asrinivasan@cornellsun.com.
